Scribal Terror

Copper Age hoard

This treasure trove was found in the Judaean desert, hidden in a cave. It's from the Chalcolithic period, or Copper Age (4500-3300 BC). Osnat Misch-Brandl writes:

[The cache] contained 429 objects which had been wrapped in a woven mat and then hidden in a Judaean Desert cave. Copper is the base for the majority of the objects, with five made of hippopotamus ivory, one of elephant ivory, six of hematite, and one of limestone.  Most objects were made of arsenic and antimony copper, a durable and malleable material. The technical and aesthetic qualities of these tools and vessels, molded using the lost-wax process, are so sophisticated that in many cases they still astound modern artisans. Mace heads, maces, standards, scepters and crowns form the bulk of the copper hoard, yet the variety, shape and decoration of each is so unusual that no two objects are identical. Many are so strange that they defy proper definition.

Neolithic plastered skull

This skull is from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho, 7220 to 5850 BC, "apparently [from a] cult involving the preservation of human skulls, with facial features reconstructed from plaster and eyes set with shells in some cases." Image from educational  link.

Coin minted by Pontius Pilate

Caption from Answers.com:

Bronze prutah minted by Pontius Pilate.
Reverse: Greek letters TIBEPIOY KAICAPOC (Tiberius Emperor) and date LIS (year 16 = 29/30 A.D) surrounding simpulum (libation ladle).
Obverse: Greek letters IOYLIA KAICAPOC (Julia Empress), three bound heads of barley, the outer two heads drooping.

Lost army of Cambyses

Discovery News reports:

Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones found in the vast desolate wilderness of the Sahara desert have raised hopes of finally finding the lost army -- 50,000 strong -- of Persian King Cambyses II, buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C.

Did you think Herodotus just made this shit up?

Chinese clepsydra

This is an ancient Chinese clepsydra or water clock.  Here's how it works, according to Cultural China:

The time-measuring device consists of several kettles filled with water, which are usually connected together. There are small holes on the bottom of upper kettles, so that once the kettles are filled up, the water will drop down stepwise and regularly to the lower kettles. The lowest kettle has an erect buoy in it carved with scale divisions. The clepsydra is a 24-hour calculagraph used to calculate time through observing the scale of buoy according to fluctuation of buoy enabled by changes in water level. It measures time day and night during both sunny and rainy days. However, there may be changes in the speed of dripping according to temperature condition, which lead to inevitable error or difference in telling time. Nevertheless, it can be corrected by using a sundial during fine days. 

Ancient Roman mariners

Wikipedia caption: "Roman ship with spritsail on the Copenhagen Sarcophagus from the late 3rd century AD. It is one of the oldest depictions of spritsails in the history of navigation. . . .  Current location: Ny-Carlsberg Glyptothek in Copenhagen (Denmark), Inv.-No. 1299. The pic above shows a copy displayed at the Museum für Antike Schiffahrt (Museum for Ancient Navigation) in Mainz, Germany."

They not only have some high-tech rigging, but they've obviously figured out a way to keep their clothes dry on deck.

Ancient fingerprints

"In ancient Babylon, fingerprints were used on clay tablets for business transactions. In ancient China, thumb prints were found on clay seals [image]. In 14th century Persia, various official government papers had fingerprints (impressions), and one government official, a doctor, observed that no two fingerprints were exactly alike."
-- The History of Fingerprinting

Herod's quarry

An interesting bit of archaeological news from Fox:

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered an ancient quarry where they believe King Herod extracted stones for the construction of the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.

The archaeologists believe the 1,000-square-foot quarry was part of a much larger network of quarries used by Herod in the city. . . .

The two-week excavation, which was conducted before construction begins on an apartment complex at the site, also uncovered pottery, coins and what appear to be tools used in the quarry dating to the first century B.C.

Here's a 3D model of the finished product.

Mycenaean helmet

Here's how Homer describes Odysseus'  helmet -- a piece of stolen property BTW:

On his head he put
a helmet made of leather, without crest or plume,
what people call a skull-cap.  It protected heads
of brave young men.  Meriones gave Odysseus    
bow, quiver, and a sword.  On his head Odysseus set
a hide cap, on the inside skillfully reinforced    
with leather thongs.  Outside, wild boars' white teeth
were placed here and there, strategically and well.
In between these layers was a piece of felt.
This cap had once been stolen by Autolycus,
from Amyntor, Ormenus' son.  He'd broken in
his well-built home in Eleon.  Some time later,
Autolycus gave it to Amphidamas of Cythera, 
to take to his home in Scandeia.  Amphidamas
then gave the cap to Molus, as a present
for his hospitality.  Molus later gave it   
to his son Meriones.  And now it sat there, 
covering Odysseus' head.

(From Michael Lahanas's excellent site)

Yes, I AM reading the Iliad at the moment, wherefore my thoughts are directed to Mycenaean stuff.

Dendra panoply

The Dendra panoply is a full set of not-particularly-stylish Mycenaean armor from the late 15th century BC. Wikipedia provides details:

The panoply’s cuirass consists of two pieces, for the chest and back. These are joined on the left side by a hinge. There is a bronze loop on the right side of the front-plate and a similar loop on each shoulder. Large shoulder-guards fit over the cuirass. Two triangular plates are attached to the shoulder-guards and gave protection to the wearer’s armpits when his arms were in the raised position. There is also a deep neck-guard. The Linear B ideogram depicting armour of this type makes the neck-guard clearly discernible, and protection by a high bronze collar was a typical feature of Near Eastern body armour. Three pairs of curved plates hang from the waist to protect the groin and the thighs. All these pieces are made of beaten bronze sheet and are backed with leather and loosely fastened by ox-hide thongs to allow some degree of movement. The complete panoply thus forms a cumbersome tubular suit of armour, which fully protects the neck and torso, and extends down to the knees. It appears that lower arm-guards and a set of greaves further protected the warrior, all made of bronze, as fragments of these were also found in the grave at Dendra. Slivers of boars’ tusks were also discovered, which once made up a boars’-tusk helmet.

It might have protected you from death, but it would have made you look really dumpy, especially around the thighs. Fortunately, this style was superseded by one with a cute little kilt that was designed roughly in time for the Trojan War so it would look good on Brad Pitt for the movie version.